Conveyer and driving mechanism therefor



June 16, 1942. A wHrrEHEAD 2,286,523

CONVEYER'AND DRIVING MECHANISM THEREFOR FlledJune 14, 1940 2 Sheetssheet l June 16, 19'42. A. F, WHITEHEAD 2,286,523

CONVEYERAND DRIVING MECHANISM THEREFOR Filed June 14, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTgI' .BY .M QL... ma 115 ATTORNEY t Patented June16,1942

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CONVEYER AND DRIVING MECHANESM THEREFOR Arthur F. l/Vhitehead,Wollaston, Mass., assignor to Pneumatic Scale Corporation,

Limited,

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a conveyer and to a driving mechanismtherefor.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel and improved conveyerfor handling articles such as containers which are required to bebrought to rest thereon while the conveying element continues inoperation, in which provision is made for driving the conveying elementin a manner such as to enable the articles to be brought to rest in agentle manner to reduce to a minimum the impact between the articles, orbetween the articles and the usual stop member.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improveddriving mechanism for a conveyer of the character specified by which theconveying element is alternately increased and decreased in speed atpredetermined intervals in each cycle of operation, whereby articlescarried by said conveying element may be brought to rest gently andsmoothly by a stop member disposed in the path of the articles along theconveyer at a point corresponding to the period of minimum velocity ofthe conveyer, thereby reducing to a minimum the impact between thecontainers and the stop member when the containers are brought to rest.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedcontainer handling machine in which the containers are required to bebrought to rest upon a continuously moving conveyer and in whichprovision is made for decreasing the lineal velocity of the conveyermember at predetermined intervals in the cycle of operationcorresponding to the period at which it is desired to stop thecontainers, whereby to reduce to a minimum the impact of the containerswith the stopping means, or between the containers.

With these general objects in View and such others as may hereinafterappear, the invention consists in the conveyer, in the driving mechanismtherefor, and in the various structures, arrangements and combinationsof parts hereinafter described and particularly dei-ined in the claimsat the end of this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention,Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a conveyer embodying the presentinvention and which is herein shown for purposes of illustration as aconveyer for a bottle cleaning machine; 1Eig. 2 is a detail view infront elevation of the driving mechanism for the present conveyer; Fig.3 is a detail view in cross.. section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4is a detail view of an eccentric cam to be referredvto;

iii)

into the machine.

and Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views illustrating the relativemovement between the driven and driving portions of the drivingmechanism, as will be described.

For purposes of illustration, the present invention is preferably shownas embodied in a bottle cleaning machine, in which Kthe containers, suchas bottles, t0 be cleaned are carried in a line into the machine on aconveyer provided with stop members arranged to separate the line ofbottles into groups and to hold a group of bottles in place to betransferred to cleaning position. Prior to the present invention, theconveyer was driven continuously at a constant rate of speed so thatwhen the bottles came up against the stop member, the sudden jar wouldcause a great deal of noise and the impact would at times result inbreakage of the bottles.

In accordance with the present invention, the continuously drivenconveyer is arranged to be driven at a variable velocity, the rate ofspeed of the conveyer belt being alternately increased and decreased atpredetermined intervals in the operation of the machine, and the stopmembers are 'arranged to be operated in timed relation to such conveyermovement in a manner such that a group of containers is stopped duringthe period of minimum Velocity of the conveyer belt, while the lattercontinues its movement sliding along under the containers. Thus, thebottles may be brought to rest gently and smoothly against the stopmembers without sacrificing any speed of output or production of themachine since an increased speed of the conveyer belt between stops maycompensate for the time used in bringing the containers down to areduced Velocity when they are to be stopped.

Referring now to the drawings, as above indicated, the invention hasbeen illustrated as embodied in a machine for handling bottles andparticularly in a bottle cleaning machine indicated generally at lilhaving a conveyer l2 upon which a supply of the bottles I4 or othercontainers to b-e cleaned are placed to be fed In the operation of themachine, the line of bottles is permitted to advance on the continuouslymoving conveyer I2 up against a stop I6 which is arranged to engage andsubsequently to release the line of bottles to be cleaned in timedrelation to the cleaning mechanism, The released bottles are arranged tobe advanced into a pocket I8 and in order to separate the line ofbottles into groups corresponding to the number of bottles to be cleanedduring each cycle of operation of the machine, the stop member I6 isactuated to be interposed between adjacent bottles separating the groupto hold back the main line of bottles. The group of bottles thusreleased into the pocket I8 are brought to rest against a second stopmember 20 which holds the bottles in alignment with rotary guide rails22, 24 supported upon a stationary Only a sufficient portion of thecleaning mechanism, indicated generally at 28, has been hereinillustrated and described as will enable the present invention to beunderstood. In general, such cleaning mechanism includes two pockets I8,I9 spaced 180 degrees apart which are a1'- ranged to be rotated aboutthe drum 2'5 to present the bottles to be cleaned in an invertedposition in alignment with a plurality of air nozzles, not shown, whichare adapted to be eX- tended into the bottles to pneumatically clean thesame. Simultaneously with the inverting of one setl of bottles, thesecond pocket i@ is brought up into a vertical position to return apreviously cleaned set of bottles to the conveyer I2. The stop member 20is then operated to release the cleaned set of bottles onto the outgoingportion of the conveyer I2 to be delivered from the machine, and thestop I6 is again actuated to permit a new set of containers to enter thepocket, as above described.

In accordance with the present invention, provision is made for drivingthe conveyor belt l2 in a manner such as -to permit the containers tocome to rest gently against the stop members It, 20 during thecontinuous operation of the conveyer. As herein shown, the conveyer I2is driven in timed relation to the operation of the stop members I6, 2E)and the cleaning mechanism 23' through connections from the main driveof the bottle cleaning machine which, as herein illustrated, comprises agear train including the pinions and gears 36, 32 and 34, 3S and thegear train may be driven by a pulley 38 connected to any usual orpreferred form of driving means, such as an electric motor, not shown.

The largegear 3E is fast upon a cam shaft 4S) supported in the machineframe, and as herein shown, is connected to an intermediate shaft 42through the variable velocity driving mechanism indicated generally at44 by a chain 455 and sprocket 43. The intermediate shaft 42 is providedwith a bevel gear i) which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 52fast on the conveyer shaft 5'4 upon which the driving sprocket 55 forthe link belt I2 is mounted. The belt I2 is arranged to pass over anidler sprocket 53 at the other end of the conveyer.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the stop members l5, 20 are arranged to beactuated in timed relation to the operation of the conveyer I2 throughconnections from the cam shaft 4i?. The stop member IS is arranged to berocked into and out of the path of the line of bottles I4 by a cam 4Ifast on the cam shaft 49, and through a cooperating roller 43 carried byone arm 45 of a bell crank rockingly mounted on a cross shaft 41'. Theother arm 49 of the bell crank is connected by a link 5I to a lever 53fast on. a rod 55, suitably mounted in the machine frame, and to whichthe stop member I5 is secured. The stop member 2'0 is similarly actuatedby a cam 5l cooperating with a roller 59 carried by a lever 6I pivotallymounted on the cross shaft 4l. The other end GS of the lever 6I isconnected by a link 65 to a lever 1 fast on a rod S9 to which the stopmember is attached. In practice, the stop members may be adjusted tooperate simultaneously so thatl in operation, after both stops have beenwithdrawn, by the time the last or, as hereinshown, the fifth bottle ofthe group in the pocket has passed the stop 22, ve bottles of the lineI4 have also passed the stop I whereupon both stops I6, 23 are rockedforwardly, the stop I6 being interposed between the fifth and sixthbottles of the line to form a group, and the stop 2t! being rocked intothe path of the oncoming group to position the group in the pocket, asabove described,

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, the Variable velocity driving mechanism44 comprises a gear @il freely mounted upon a stud 62 secured in abracket 64 mounted upon the machine frame. The gear 6i) is arranged tobe driven at a constant or uniform rate of speed through engagement withthe large gear 36. A sprocket 6% is loosely mounted upon the hub 68 ofthe gear The gear E0 is connected to the sprocket 65 by linkageincluding a link 1 pivotally connected to a stud 72 fast in the gearSi), and a link I4 connected to a pin 'I5 mounted on the sprocket 66.The other ends of links li), 'I4 are provided with forked ends pivotallyconnected together by a pin 'I8 thus providing a flexible connectionbetween the gear and the sprocket adapted to be shortened and lengthenedas the links are rocked on the pivot pin 78.

Provision is made for automatically varying the length of the linkconnection between the gear 63 and sprocket G during the rotationthereof in a manner such as to drive the sprocket 66 at a variableangular velocity, alternately producing an accelerated motion and adecelerated or retarded motion, while the gear 6B is driven at a uniformrate of speed. As illustrated in Figs 2 and 3, this change is producedby a fixed cam or eccentric 8B which is secured to a headed portion 82of the stud 62 by screws 84. The cam 80 is arranged to cooperate with aroller 86 carried on the pivot pin 78 between the forks 'I9 of the linkI4 as shown in Fig. 3.

` With this arrangement, as the gear is rotated tion 92 of the sprocketby screws 94.

at a uniform rate of speed, the angular distance between the pivotalpoints 12, I6 of the gear and the sprocket respectively is changed bythe cooperation of the stationary cam and the roller S6 to vary theangular speed of the sprocket 66. The sprocket 66 is connected by thechain 46 to the sprocket 48 and through the connections above describedthe conveyer belt I 2 is alternately driven at an increased and adecreased rate of speed. As shown in Fig. 3, the link 1l! is retained onits stud 'I2 by a collar 88. The other link 14 is retained on the pin I6by a retaining member secured to a raised por- The gear and sprocketassembly are held from lateral movement on the stud 62 between thebracket 64 and the inner face of the camA 8E) as illustrated in Fig. 3.As indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, an opening 95 is provided in the sprocket66 to provide clearance for the link I0 and stud 'l2 during the relativemovement between the gear and sprocket.

In the operation of the device, the bottle stop members I6, 20 arearranged to be actuated in timed relation to the movement of theconveyer so as to bring the bottles to rest at the period of minimumvelocity of the conveyer, and as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 4,the cam 8U is designed to decelerate the driving sprocket 66 from apoint of maximum angular velocity, as indicated at |00, to a point ofminimum angular velocity, as indicated at |02, during one half arevolution or 180 degrees of the cycle of operation, and that during theremaining 180 degrees of the cycle the cam is designed to accelerate thedriving sprocket from the point of minimum' angular velocity to thepoint of maximum angular velocity to complete one cycle of operation. Asindicated in Fig. 4, the bottles are arranged to be stopped at the pointof minimum velocity of the conveyer and remain stopped for an intervalof approximately 130 degrees in the cycle during the time when theconveyer is being accelerated and at which time the pockets I8, I9 arebeing rotated to bring a cleaned set of bottles upright on the conveyerand to present a set of bottles in inverted position to be cleaned,whereupon, the cleaned bottles are released and a new set of bottles ispermitted to enter the pocket to begin a new cycle of operation, asabove described. It will be apparent that the cleaning operation whichis performed while the bottles are in their inverted position may occurat any time during the bottle moving period in the cycle of operation ofthe machine.

Referring now to Figs. and 6, the relative movement or angular velocityof the gear 60 and sprocket 66, as controlled by the cooperation of thelinkage l0, 'M and the cam 8|) is therein diagrammatically indicated. Itwill be observed in Fig. 5 that in the relative positions shown, whenthe gear and stud 12 has moved through approximately 90 degrees at auniform rate of speed from the point |04, as indicated in the dottedline position, to a point |06, as indicated in the full line position,the gradual extension of the linkage l0, '1li as determined by the cam80 and roller 86 causes the sprocket 66 to be moved through an angle ofapproximately degrees during the same time to produce a decelerated orretarded angular velocity of the driving sprocket 66, as indicated bythe distance between corresponding points |08, IIU. Similarly, as shownin Fig. 6, in the relative positions of the linkage therein shown, itwill be observed that when the gear is moved through approximately onequarter of a turn from the dotted to the full line positions of thelinkage as indicated by the distance between corresponding points H2,lid, the gradual contraction of the linkage 1|), i4 as caused by thecooperation of the cam 80 and roller 86, the sprocket 66 will be moved asubstantially greater distance as indicated between points IIB and ||8in the same period of time to produce an accelerated angular velocity ofthe sprocket.

From the description thus far it will be observed that the changes inangular velocity of the sprocket produce corresponding changes in thelinear velocity or surface speed of the conveyer belt i2 through thedriving connections above described. In practice, the relation of thedriving connections is such as to cause the belt I2 to be driven at itsminimum velocity just as a container on the conveyer reaches a positionin front of the stop members I6 or 20, so that, in effect, the linealdistance from one stop to the next represents the period in the cycle ofthe driving mechanism M between the bottle releasing position and thestopping position as indicated in Fig. 4. It will be apparent that thisrelationship is maintained throughout the entire travel of the bottlesalong the conveyer so that the bottles are alternately accelerated andretarded in speed at predetermined intervals in the operation of themachine. It will also be observed that the stop members I6, 20 may beactuated through the cams 4|, 51 and connections described, to stop thebottles at a time such as to coincide with a period of minimum velocityof the conveyer belt whereby to bring the bottles to rest as gently andsmoothly as possible without retarding the production capacity of themachine.

Although the invention has been herein illustrated and described asembodied in a bottle cleaning machine, it will be apparent that theinvention may be embodied in other machines such as bottle lling orlabeling machines or other types of machines where it is advantageous ordesirous to vary the speed of the containers or other articles beingconveyed at predetermined intervals.

It will also be apparent that the rotary mechanism for producingvariable angular velocity may be used for purposes other than thoseherein illustrated and described.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been hereinillustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention maybe embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a conveyer of the character described, in combination, acontinuously moving belt upon which articles are transported, a movablestop member adapted to be projected into the path of said articles tobring them to rest on the conveyer while the belt continues to move,means` for operating said stop member, and positively operating meansfor reducing the linear speed of said belt at predetermined intervalscoinciding with the operation of said stop member whereby to reduce to aminmum the impact between an article and the stop member 2. In aconveyer of the character described, in combination, a continuouslymoving belt upon which containers are transported in a line, movablemeans engageable with said containers for stopping and releasing themupon the conveyer at predetermined intervals while the belt continues tomove, means for operating said container engaging means, and positivelyoperating means for driving said belt arranged to increase and decreasethe linear velocity thereof at predetermined intervals. said stoppingand releasing means being actuated in timed relation to said belt speedin a manner such as to bring the containers to rest at the period ofminimum velocity of said belt.

3. The combination with a conveyer having provision for conveyingcontainers in groups, of movable stop members adapted to be operated tobring successive groups of containers to rest on the conveyer while thelatter continues in operation, means or operating said stop members, andpositively operating driving mechanism for said conveyer adapted toalternately increase and decrease the linear speed of the conveyer, saiddriving mechanism being operated in timed relation to said stop memberswhereby the latter are actuated to stop the successive groups ofcontainers during the period of reduced linear speed of said conveyer. lf

4. An automatic container handling machine having, in combination, acontinuously moving endless conveyer belt upon which the containers tobe processed are transported through the machine, movable meansengageable with the containers for stopping them at a predeterminedpoint on the conveyer belt While the belt continues to move, means foroperating said stopping means, and positively operating driving meansfor said conveyer adapted to reduce the linear speed of the latter atpredetermined intervals corresponding to the operation of said stoppingmeans whereby to reduce to a minimum the impact between said stoppingmeans and the containers when the latter are brought to rest.

5. In a conveyer of the character described, in combination, acontinuously moving belt upon which the containers are transported, amovable stop member adapted to be projected into the path of saidcontainers to bring them to rest on the conveyer while the beltcontinues to move, means for operating said stop member, and positivelyoperating driving means for said conveyer adapted to reduce the linearvelocity of said belt K at predetermined intervals corresponding to theoperation of said stopping means, said last named means comprising arotary driving member arranged to be rotated at a uniform rate of speed,

a rotary driven member connected to the cone veyer belt, a leXible linkconnecting said driven member with said driving member, and a stationarycam cooperating With-said exible link arranged to vary the length of thelatter during the rotation thereof, thereby varying the angular velocityof said driven member, said stop member actuated in timed relation tosaid belt speed in a manner such as to bring the containers to rest atthe period of reduced velocity of said belt.

6. In a conveyer of the character described, in combination, acontinuously moving belt upon which containers are transported in aline, a movable stop member engageable with the containers and adaptedto separate the line into groups, a second movable stop member adaptedto be operated to stop the group at a predetermined point while the beltcontinues to move, means for operating said stop members, and positivelyoperating driving means for said conveyer adapted to accelerate anddecelerate the velocity of the conveyer belt at predetermined intervals,said stop members being operated in timed relation to said belt speed ina manner such as to bring the containers to rest at the period of reyduced velocity of said belt.

'7. In a conveyer of the character described, in combination, acontinuously moving belt upon which the containers are transported, amovable stop member adapted to be projected into the path of saidcontainers to bring them to rest on the conveyer While the beltcontinues to move, means for operating said stop member, and positivelyoperating driving means or said conveyer adapted to reduce the linearvelocity of said belt at predetermined intervals corresponding to theoperation of said stopping means, comprising a rotary driving memberarranged to be rotated at a uniform rate of speed, a rotary drivenmember, connections between said driving member and the conveyer,flexible means connecting said rotary driven member with said rotarydriving member, and an eccentric member cooperating with said flexiblemeans and adapted to vary the length of the latter during the rotationof the mechanism, thereby varying the angular velocity of said drivenmember,

8. The combination with a conveyer having provision for conveyingcontainers in groups, of movable stop members adapted to be operated tobring successive groups of containers to rest on the conveyer while thelatter continues in operation, means for operating said stop members,and positively operating driving mechanism for said conveyer adapted toalternately increase and decrease the linear speed of the conveyer, saiddriving mechanism being operated in timed relation to said stop memberswhereby the latter are actuated to stop the successive groups ofcontainers during the period of reduced linear speed of said conveyer,said stop members being disposed in spaced relation along the conveyer adistance substantially equal to the distance traveled by said conveyerduring one cycle of operation of the machine.

ARTHUR F. l/VHITEHEAD.

